Parents & kids · The complete cookbook

AI for kids and parents

A guide for parents, split by the child's age. You'll find tips from toddlers through elementary and middle school to high school. We focus on play, learning, movement, developing thinking and practical life. The prompts are inspiration; adapt them to your child. AI saves you coming up with ideas. But which of them you use and how you supervise your child with AI stays with you.

🎓 Older child or a student? For final exams, learning from your own notes, university exams and a thesis, there's a separate guide AI for students: from final exams to a master's thesis →
💡 How to use the prompts: Texts in square brackets [like this one] offer different options. Before sending, pick the one that suits you, delete the rest and fill in your child's age or nickname. You don't need to write your child's real full name, school or address to the AI.
🛡️ Safety and age (as of 24 October 2026, according to the makers' terms)
  • ChatGPT: from 13, under 18 with a parent's consent. It turns on a teen version for teenagers. A parent can link their account: set quiet hours, limit sensitive content and get alerts in dangerous situations. But they don't read the conversations.
  • Gemini: in the EU it isn't available to children under 13; from 13 with their own Google account. The rules for younger children differ by country.
  • Claude: 18+ only.
  • Grok: from 13, under 18 with a parent's consent (xAI FAQ, as of 25 October 2026). The age is only confirmed, not verified. Depending on the chosen mode or character it writes crudely, about sex or violence, and xAI itself recommends parental supervision. Common Sense Media gives it the worst rating and doesn't recommend it for under-18s; according to their tests, inappropriate content got through even in the kids' mode.
  • Younger children use AI only with you, on your account and with the phone in your hand.
  • Privacy: don't put your child's full name, school, address or photos into AI. A nickname and the age are enough.
  • AI gets things wrong: check anything about health, safety and schoolwork with a doctor, a teacher or in a textbook.
👶 Before preschool 0–3 years ▼

At this age, AI doesn't belong in the child's hands, but it works as an endless well of ideas for parents. It helps you come up with safe games, understand tantrums or create first nursery rhymes.

🎲 Play & fun: sensory games

Keep your child busy for 20 minutes with things you normally have in the kitchen.

Ideas for sensory-motor play at home GeminiGPT
I have a [1.5 / 2 / 3]-year-old child at home. Come up with 3 safe sensory games (touch, hearing, sight) using [ordinary kitchen things / paper and glue / natural things from outside].
For each game, write brief steps and what exactly it develops in the child. Make sure it's completely safe and right for the age.
💡 A sample AI output: "1. Squishy dough (water + flour): Mix a cup of plain flour with a little water to make a sticky, harmless dough. Give the child a wooden spoon and let them squeeze the dough in a bowl. Develops: fine motor skills, the sense of touch.
2. Rescuing animals from the ice: Freeze bigger plastic animals into ice cube trays. Give the child a bowl of warm water and a spoon and let them try to 'free' them. Develops: understanding cause and effect (melting), patience."

🛠 Practice & life: handling tantrums and routines

When old wives' advice doesn't work, ask AI about a respectful approach to parenting.

Psychological advice for a daily routine ClaudeGPT
My [two-year-old / three-year-old] often throws tantrums when [brushing teeth in the evening / getting dressed and going out / leaving the playground for home]. Act as [a child psychologist / an understanding preschool teacher / a modern paediatrician].
Suggest 3 specific playful tricks or a calming routine to turn it into a game, quietly support their independence and avoid a fight.
💡 A sample AI output: "Try the 'Germ hunter' method. Say: 'Let's see what food is hiding in your teeth today! Ooh, I can see a bit of banana back here, let's chase it out with the toothbrush, quick!' It gives the child the feeling of a game. Another trick is to give the child a false choice: 'Shall we brush our teeth in the bathroom, or on the living room rug today?' (You give them control, but the goal – brushing teeth – stays)."
🧸 Preschool & kindergarten 3–6 years ▼

Kids have a million questions a day. AI helps you simplify complicated things into fairy tales and invent clever games that develop fine and gross motor skills and empathy.

📚 Learning: explaining the world (ELI5)

Explaining how electricity works or why it rains can be hard. Let AI come up with a comparison.

Explaining through a comparison for a preschooler GeminiGPT
Explain to a [4 / 5 / 6]-year-old child [why the sky is blue / how lightning and thunder work / why we have to sleep at night].
Answer as [a very wise but cheerful owl / an understanding and kind teacher / their favourite superhero].
Don't use complicated scientific words. Use comparisons with things the child knows well (e.g. toys, crayons, the weather). Quietly weave in a lesson about [how amazing nature is and that we must protect it / how rest gives us strength].
💡 A sample AI output (cheerful owl + rest): "Hoo hoo, hello, little curious one! Imagine your body is like your favourite battery-powered toy car. When you play with it all day, it drives fast, but in the evening the battery runs completely empty and the car stops. Hoo hoo! And sleep is a giant magic charger! When you close your eyes, your body quietly charges up with new strength so it can run and jump again tomorrow. And you know what, even owls sometimes have to close their eyes so we have the strength for our night-time hooting!"

🏃‍♂️ Movement & sport: burning off energy at home

Designing an obstacle course at home Gemini
It's raining outside and I need to tire out a [5]-year-old in [a flat in an apartment block / a house with a garden]. Come up with an obstacle course with 5 stations.
We have: [sofa cushions, blankets, soft toys, chairs and a broom / big cardboard boxes and string]. The course should have the theme ['Escaping the lava in the jungle' / 'A space mission to rescue a puppy' / 'A knight's quest for a dragon']. Include tasks where the child has to concentrate and keep their balance too.
💡 A sample AI output: "1. The lava river (cushions): Spread cushions on the floor. The child has to jump from one to the next. If they fall, they have to do 3 frog jumps to 'cool down' in the waterfall!
2. The spider tunnel (chairs + blankets): The child has to crawl under like a snake without touching the 'web'. It teaches body coordination.
3. Rescuing the monkeys (soft toys and a broom): At the end they have to use the broom (as a 'rescue hook') to push the soft toys to safety, which trains finer motor skills..."

🧠 Thinking & development: educational fairy tales

An interactive gamebook (a fairy tale where the child decides) GPTClaude
You are a bedtime storyteller for preschoolers. Write an interactive fairy tale (a gamebook) in which the child decides, about a [5]-year-old [girl / boy] called [nickname] who really loves [unicorns / tractors and diggers / dinosaurs].

Your rules:
1. Generate an opening scene (max 3 sentences) about how the character ends up in a magical situation where, for example, [they learn to share toys / they help a lost baby animal / they overcome a fear of the dark].
2. Stop after those 3 sentences; don't write the whole story in advance.
3. Offer the child TWO different options for what the hero can do next (e.g. 'A) Lend the unicorn their magic paintbrush, B) Decide to paint alone and hide. What will [Name] choose?').
4. Then wait for the child's choice and continue only according to it, so we really make up the story together. Each choice should have a natural lesson in it, and none should end scarily.

❤️ Emotions & tantrums: mindfulness for kids

When emotions fly up and down, AI helps you find a way to calm them through imagination.

Calming down through a breathing game ClaudeGPT
I have a [4]-year-old child who sometimes [can't cope with anger / is afraid to fall asleep alone / is terribly scattered].
Suggest 3 short calming or breathing games (mindfulness for small children). Wrap them in a child's imagination, e.g. [blowing on hot soup / blowing up a giant bubble / chasing away little clouds]. I want one game to take 2 minutes at most and the child to see it as fun, not as an order to calm down.

🍎 Food & health: playful food for picky eaters

When your child refuses vegetables or new flavours, try it through a story and imagination.

A story about magic vegetables ClaudeGPT
My [4]-year-old absolutely refuses to eat [broccoli / carrots / meat]. They're touchy at the table.
Come up with a very short, cheerful story about how [broccoli florets are tiny magic trees that give bears their strength / carrots are secret X-ray glasses for the dark]. At the end of the story, invite the child to playfully "test" this food. The tone should be playful and adventurous.
💡 A sample AI output: "Imagine that broccoli isn't ordinary vegetables at all. They're tiny magic trees from the dinosaur forest! Whoever eats one of these little trees gets the same strength in their legs as T-Rex had when he stomped on the ground. Want to try whether your stomp gets louder after one little tree?"

⏱️ Practice: the morning getting-dressed race

Turn the stressful morning rush into a sports match.

A commentator for getting dressed in the morning GPT
I need to speed up getting my [5]-year-old dressed in the morning. Come up with a script for how I can play [a Formula 1 sports commentator / the commander of a space mission] who comments on every step of getting dressed (socks, trousers, T-shirt).
Add sound effects (which I'll make with my mouth) and funny lines, so the child is motivated to make it in 'record time'.

🗣️ Roleplay: AI as a character on the phone

Turn on voice mode on your phone (for example in the ChatGPT app) and let your child chat with their favourite animal or machine. The account is yours, you hold the phone and you sit with them. According to its terms, ChatGPT is for ages 13 and up.

An interactive conversation with a favourite thing GPTGemini
I want you to play the role of [a bin lorry / a curious dinosaur / a pirate who lost his map / the sun].
My [5]-year-old will ask you questions by voice and you answer. Answer very briefly (max 3 sentences), [funnily and childlike / enthusiastically and educationally]. Now and then ask them something back so they have to think. Introduce yourself at the start and add a sound your character makes (e.g. 'Vrrroom' or 'Roarrr').
💡 A sample AI output: "Vrrroom, beep beep! Hi! I'm a big orange bin lorry and my name is Crusher. I've just eaten a tummy full of paper and plastic, yum! What yummy food do you have today? Vrrroom!"
🎒 Elementary school 6–11 years ▼

School begins. AI is a great assistant for coming up with practice exercises and for building the basics of financial literacy through play.

📚 Learning: maths and reading that's fun

Maths with favourite heroes GPTGemini
My child is in [year 2 / year 3 / year 4] and we need to practise [adding and subtracting up to 100 / times tables / division with remainders].
Their favourite topic is [Minecraft / Pokémon / Paw Patrol / space]. Come up with 5 fun word problems. Quietly weave in situations where the characters [work together / think logically / have to help each other]. At the end, give me a separate answer key.
💡 A sample AI output: "Problem 1: Steve and Alex mined 46 diamonds together in a cave. On the way out, zombies jumped out at Steve and in the confusion he lost 18 diamonds. How many diamonds do they have left? And how many does each of them get if they split them in half?"

🎲 Play: your own board game

Designing the rules for a family board game ClaudeGPT
I want to make our own board game with my [8]-year-old. We have a big sheet of paper, markers, a die and a few game pieces.
The theme of the game should be ['A journey through space' / 'A knight's quest for a lost treasure' / 'Rescuing endangered animals in the ocean']. Suggest simple rules and 10 special squares we'll draw. Include gentle educational elements in the tasks, like [a light stretch / a quick logic riddle / helping a fellow player, otherwise you're held up]. The game should take about 20 minutes.

🛠 Practice: the basics of financial literacy

A household economy simulation (playing shop) GPT
I want to explain [the value of money and work / the principle of saving and sensible spending] to a [10]-year-old. Come up with a game of ['The family shop and bank' / 'Your own company for the weekend'] for us.
Suggest a system for how they can earn imaginary credits at home for activities like [reading books beyond school, helping with extra cleaning, solving a logic puzzle] and create a price list of rewards they can exchange the credits for (e.g. extra tablet time, choosing the film in the evening). Make it motivating, so it looks like a challenge, not a punishment.

🧪 Curiosity: a home science lab

Kids at this age love experiments. AI comes up with a safe “magic trick” using only what you find in the kitchen.

Designing safe home experiments GeminiClaude
Suggest 3 simple and safe home science experiments for an [8]-year-old that explain [the density of substances / static electricity / a chemical reaction].
We only have ordinary things at home: [vinegar, baking soda, oil, water, food colouring, balloons]. For each experiment, write: 1. What we'll do, 2. Exactly what will happen (the visual effect), 3. A simple 'magician's' explanation of why it happened. Phrase step 3 so I can read it straight to my child.

🕵️ Critical thinking: truth detectives

Teach them in a fun way that not everything on the internet (or from friends) is true. And that AI gets things wrong too, so always check what it says.

A myth-busting game (fake news) GPTClaude
I want to teach my [10]-year-old the basics of critical thinking. We'll play the game 'Truth detectives'.
Write me 3 short, surprising statements about [animals / space / human history]. Two must be absolutely true and one must be completely made up (a lie), but it must sound very convincing and logical. We'll guess which one is the lie. After we answer, explain to us how we could check for ourselves on the internet whether it was true, and what to watch out for.
💡 A sample AI output: "OK, detectives, here are 3 facts about animals. One of them is lying. Which one is it?
1. Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.
2. Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they're afraid of predators, so they think they're invisible.
3. Flamingos are pink because of the food they eat.
What's your guess?"

⚽ Sport & movement: a personal trainer for heroes

When kids don't feel like moving, wrap the exercise in their favourite character's training.

A themed workout for indoors or outdoors GeminiGPT
Put together a playful circuit workout (5 exercises) for my [9]-year-old son, inspired by [Jedi training from Star Wars / Ronaldo's football training / secret Avengers training].
Give each exercise a stylish name (e.g. 'Dodging the laser' instead of a squat) and briefly explain how to do it. The workout must be safe, [15 minutes] long and doable in [the living room / a park]. Add a motivating intro from the trainer.
💡 A sample AI output: "Welcome, young padawan! Your Jedi training starts now.
1. Jumping over the lightsaber (frog jumps): Imagine a low laser beam. Jump high into the air and land in a squat. (10 reps)
2. Deflecting shots (shadow boxing): Stand firmly on the ground and deflect invisible blaster shots with quick punches..."

🥪 Food & health: the secret of the right fuel

Explain to older kids why eating healthily is good, by comparing the body to a machine or a game.

Teaching about food through game stats ClaudeNotebookLM
Explain to my [10]-year-old the importance of [protein, carbohydrates and vitamins / drinking water regularly and a healthy breakfast].
Use the terminology of [computer games (HP, Mana, Stamina, Buffs) / cars and engines]. Explain what happens in their 'body' when they eat only sweets (quick mana, but a fatigue debuff) compared to when they eat a balanced meal. At the end, challenge them to design the perfect 'pre-match' snack themselves.

✍️ Creativity: the never-ending story

Instead of listening to fairy tales, let your child make up a story together with AI and train their imagination.

Writing an interactive fairy tale together GPTGemini
My [7]-year-old and I will play a game of 'The never-ending story'.
You come up with the beginning of a story (max 4 sentences) about [a secret lab under the school / animals that can talk and are looking for a map / a magic forest full of sweets]. Then leave a sentence unfinished and ask the child what happened next. Then follow on logically from their idea.
Now and then quietly slip into the story [a simple maths task / a riddle about animals / a decision about what's fair]. I'm waiting for your first paragraph!
🔬 Middle school 11–15 years ▼

The age when harder schoolwork starts and critical thinking develops. From 13 they can have their own account (ChatGPT and Gemini, under 18 with a parent's consent) and use AI as a personal tutor or a game narrator. Younger ones only on your account and with you.

📚 Learning: a personal tutor (the Feynman method)

Understanding difficult schoolwork (physics, chemistry...) ClaudeGPT
My son in [year 8] doesn't understand [Ohm's law / photosynthesis / how fractions and percentages work]. Explain it with the Feynman method.
1. Simplify it with a metaphor of [water flowing through pipes / cooking a complicated recipe / a team of workers on a building site].
2. List the 3 main parts of this phenomenon and explain what they mean in that metaphor.
3. Show one practical example from an ordinary day, so he understands what it's good to know for.
The language should be friendly, encouraging and not needlessly academic.
💡 A sample AI output: "Imagine a hose with water flowing through it in the garden.
Current (amps) is the amount of water that flows through the hose.
Voltage (volts) is how hard the tap 'pushes' the water out (the pressure).
Resistance (ohms) is when you squeeze the hose a little with your hand.
When you squeeze the hose (increase the resistance), less water flows through (the current drops), even though the tap is pushing just as hard (the voltage stays the same)."

🧠 Thinking: a text escape room (brain training)

They don't like reading? Let AI generate a thrilling story in which the child has to read and decide in order to get further.

Generating a gamebook (Dungeons & Dragons in a chat) GPTGemini
Let's play an interactive text escape room (a gamebook). I'll be the main hero, a [13]-year-old [detective / space explorer / wizard in training] who is stuck in [an abandoned museum / on an alien planet / in a magic tower]. You are the narrator (Game Master).
Rules:
1. Always describe the situation and the setting in one short paragraph.
2. To let me through, give me a logic puzzle that trains [logic / maths and codes / attention to detail in the text].
3. Ask me what I want to do and wait for my answer. Generate the story strictly one step at a time!
🎓 High school 15+ years ▼

Students at this age already use AI on their own: to prepare for final exams, learn from their own notes and get their first part-time job. More in the AI for students guide.

📚 Learning: preparing for tests from your own notes

💡 How to do it: Have your teenager upload their notes from the exercise book or the teacher's slides into Google NotebookLM. NotebookLM answers only from the uploaded material and can “quiz” them on it.
Quizzing on an exam topic (NotebookLM) NotebookLM
From the uploaded documents, create [10] test questions (a mix of open and multiple-choice) on the topic [the Industrial Revolution / human biology / 20th-century history].
Ask me the first question and wait for my answer. If I answer correctly, give me the next question. If I answer incorrectly, explain the right answer with [a short mnemonic / a funny analogy to today], so I remember it better.

🧠 Thinking: critical thinking training (a debate)

Great for practising arguments before writing an essay.

AI as a debating opponent ClaudeGPT
I want to do some debate training with you. The topic is: '[Should mobile phones be banned in schools? / Is artificial intelligence a threat to humanity? / Should homework be abolished?]'.
I'll argue that [yes, they should / no, they shouldn't]. You play [a strict but logical teacher / a devil's advocate who wants to provoke / a wise philosopher].
Start with your first argument (max 4 sentences) and wait for my reaction. Always try to find a logical gap in my argument and make me think about my counter-arguments.
💡 A sample AI output: "Fine. My first argument is: mobile phones in the classroom are demonstrably a source of constant distraction. Notifications and social media fragment attention, which reduces students' ability to concentrate on more complex tasks. School should be a place of deep learning, not scrolling. How will you refute this?"

🛠 Practice: a CV and the first part-time job

Help with an email for a part-time job GPT
I'm a [16]-year-old high school student and I want to write an email to [a local café / a local IT company / a pet shop] saying I'd like to work there at weekends.
I have no work experience, but [I love baking and I'm good with people / I enjoy building computers and I learn fast / I love animals and I'm responsible].
Write me a draft of a short email. I want it to sound [professional but right for my age / humble and willing to start from the bottom / friendly and energetic]. I don't want to sound like a corporate robot.
🎨 Bonus: AI images for kids ▼

You can create images with kids too, for example in ChatGPT or in Gemini (Nano Banana). You create the images on your account and the child comes up with what will be in them. Don't upload photos of children to AI.

Try the prompts for your own colouring pages, bringing a child's drawing to life or made-up animals.

🖍️ Custom colouring pages

Generating a simple colouring page ChatGPTGemini
Create a black-and-white colouring page for kids (line art). The main motif is [a cute dinosaur / a brave princess / a fire engine].
Drawing style: [very simple thick lines for small kids / a more detailed drawing with lots of patterns].
The background should be [pure white / include a few trees and little clouds]. No shading, only clean black outlines.

✨ Bringing a child's drawing to life

A child's drawing turned into a storybook illustration ChatGPTGemini
Look at the image I uploaded (a child's drawing). I want you to redraw it as a professional illustration from a children's storybook.
Keep the original idea: it's [a flying dog with a hat / a house on chicken legs].
Use [cheerful pastel colours / a watercolour style / the style of a 3D animated film] and add a little magical atmosphere, such as sparkles or glowing stars.

🦁 Game: animal mutants

Creative animal crossbreeds GeminiChatGPT
Create a photorealistic (or 3D) image of a new animal that is a cross between [an elephant and a butterfly / a penguin and a tiger / a panda and a dragon].
The animal should look [cute and friendly / majestic and a little funny] and be in [a magic forest / the middle of the living room / on the Moon].
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For parents: parenting, psychology and food ▼

AI isn't just for kids; it also works as a patient adviser for you. It can help you with crisis situations, suggest how to talk to your child about difficult topics, help set healthy boundaries or come up with a trick for picky eaters.

💬 Communication: difficult questions and crises

When you don't know how to react when your child asks about complicated things (death, money), or throws a tantrum in a shop and everyone is watching.

How to react to a tantrum / a difficult question ClaudeGPT
You are a child psychologist who advises parents of small children on handling anger and difficult questions. I have a [4]-year-old who [is having a hysterical fit in a toy shop because I won't buy them a toy / has just asked me whether I'll die too / is afraid to go to preschool tomorrow].
Advise me how to react in this specific moment. Write:
1. What I should physically do (how to stand, the tone of voice, touch).
2. The exact sentences to say (short, empathetic and calming).
3. What to avoid (common parent mistakes in this situation).
If the description suggests something more serious or it keeps happening, tell me who to turn to (a paediatrician, a child psychologist, a school counsellor).

🥦 Food: picky eaters

When vegetables are enemy number one and you need to get vitamins into your child without shouting at the table every day.

Creatively hiding vegetables and healthy snacks ClaudeGPT
My [5]-year-old absolutely refuses to eat [broccoli / spinach / any vegetables / pulses]. They only like [pasta / pancakes / chicken nuggets].
Suggest 5 very creative and realistic recipes (or tricks) for getting these healthy ingredients into them so they don't notice, or so it's fun for them (e.g. funny shapes, colourful dish names, "the superheroes' secret ingredient"). The meals must be genuinely quick to make for a working parent (under 20 minutes).

⏰ Routines and habits: falling asleep at night or the morning rush

AI can suggest playful rituals that turn the stressful morning rush or the evening “I don't want to sleep” into a game where your child is happy to cooperate.

A playful ritual for the morning/evening routine GeminiGPT
Every day we struggle with [getting ready for preschool in the morning / brushing teeth and going to bed in the evening]. My child is [6] and dawdles terribly, throws tantrums and doesn't cooperate.
Come up with a fun game or a motivation system for us (e.g. themed around their favourite hero [Spider-Man / Paw Patrol / Elsa]) that gets them to cooperate willingly and without me shouting. I need 3 different, original and, above all, easy-to-do ideas.

📱 Rules and boundaries: screens and technology

How to set limits for tablets and phones so it doesn't come across as just a ban, but as a two-way agreement about responsibility.

A family agreement on using a tablet/phone GPTClaude
I want to set clear, fair and sustainable rules for using [a phone / a tablet / a game console] for my [9]-year-old.
Write me a kind but firm draft of a "Family agreement" that includes:
- How much time per day/week is allowed.
- When and where the device must not be used (e.g. at the table, before bed).
- What the child must do (tasks, school, exercise) before they can play.
- What happens when the agreement is broken (natural consequences, not punishments).
The agreement must be written in language a nine-year-old understands, and it mustn't sound like authoritarian bans, but like an agreement about building trust and responsibility.